Lead Mining

Lead
was a natural resource that became very important to the lives of many Iowans.
From the days of the Mesquakie Indians to the European settlers, lead played
a role in Iowa's history. Both groups used the ore to make their lives better.
But the story of lead in Iowa's mining history was short-lived. In time the
story ended with the decline of lead mining completely.

Indian Secrets

Indians along eastern Iowa and western
Wisconsin had been using unrefined lead (or ore) for years without
knowing how to cast it. By grinding up the iron ore into powder and mixing
it with water, they would create a black paint used for body and face decoration.
During the 1700s, French explorers found out about the plentiful veins of
lead ore. They taught the Indians how to melt the ore and shape it into things
like crosses, fish net sinkers, cooking utensils, tools and statues of animals.

The Indians were secretive about the location of their mines. The Mesquakie
(Fox) did well for themselves by trading chunks of lead ore to the French
and English traders for things the Indians needed, such as guns and knives.
The traders would take the ore, smelt it (melt it to remove impurities) and
produce lead shot. (The small round pellets were used as ammunition for rifles.)
Lead shot were then traded back to the Indians.

The Indians knew how important lead was to the Europeans and guarded their
treasure. Julien Dubuque, a French trader, was the exception. He was a French-Canadian
who came to the area in the 1780s to work the fur trade. He traded with the
Mesquakie (Fox), but he also learned from them and became friends with them.
He even married the great Indian Chief Peosta's daughter.

The Indians trusted Dubuque and
they told him about the well-guarded lead mines in Mesquakie territory. Realizing
Dubuque’s business savvy, the Mesquakie leaders gave him control of
the mines. He worked with the Indians to scout new sites, and with their help
the “Mines of Spain” flourished. Working with the Indians, he
successfully ran the mines until his death in 1810. The mines should have
been returned to the Mesquakie, but as often happened in history, the valuable
land and the mines were taken over by the United States Army.

The Secret's Out

Soon
everyone knew about the mines and lead mining began in earnest in the 1820s.
By the boatload, settlers came up the Mississippi River to claim the rich
veins, establish mines, build smelters and produce lead. Similar to the California
Gold Rush of 1849, the Lead Rush brought throngs of people from the East coast
and Europe. By 1829 over 4,000 mining permits had been issued. Because the
land belonged to the United States Army, miners had to agree to return ten
percent of the lead back to the government’s arsenal. Still, the miners
managed to make a very decent living.

The End of an Era

When the surface deposits became
harder to find, miners had to dig deeper. Soon crevices turned into shafts.
They kept digging deeper and deeper until they reached the same level as the
river and the rest of the water table. Their task was similar to removing
water from a hole dug in a sandy beach—there was no sense digging deeper
because the water kept seeping in. The process of removing water from the
mines took too much time and money. As the cost started to outweigh the profits,
lead mining began to die out.